Wes Montgomery

At JazzWax today, the new album "Wes Montgomery: Back on Indiana Avenue, The Carroll DeCamp Recordings," which provides us with two important bridges between Riverside studio albums in 1959 and 1960, and 1960 and '61... https://t.co/GaUZwIXKKW pic.twitter.com/0pe4c9Rq2u

— Marc Myers (@JazzWax) April 22, 2019

#AhmadJamal and #WesMontgomery

Looking for artists similar to ahmad jamal and wes montgomery? https://t.co/O813JO6Vjz

— AddictedToJazz (@AddictedToJazz) 17 de fevereiro de 2017

Jimmy Smith & Wes Montgomery

Jimmy Smith & Wes Montgomery - OGD (aka Road Song) https://t.co/jTHXOHiTPC

— AddictedToJazz (@AddictedToJazz) June 17, 2016

Wes Montgomery: Night in Indy

Reprinted from http://jazzwax.com

George Klabin and Zev Feldman at Resonance Records have done it again. The dynamic duo have surfaced, restored and packaged yet more rare Wes Montgomery, with the full participation of Robert Montgomery of the Montgomery estate. This time it's Wes Montgomery: One Night in Indy, recorded on January 18, 1959 in Indianapolis. Guitarist Wes Montgomery here was backed by Eddie Higgins on piano, an unknown bassist and Walter Perkins on drums.

First released on vinyl as a 10-inch LP some months back as part of a Record Day promotion, the album is now available as a CD and download. The recording originally came from photographer and filmmaker Duncan Schiedt, who ran the Indianapolis Jazz Club in downtown Indianapolis with several friends. One night in 1959, they recorded the group, and the reel eventually was passed down to Schiedt by other club members. The new release had the full blessing of the Montgomery estate and singer-pianist and painter Meredith D'Ambrosio, Higgins' widow.

This album features just six tracks, but it's all glorious stuff: Give Me the Simple Life, Prelude to a Kiss, Stompin' at the Savoy, Li'l Darling, Ruby My Dear and You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To. Montgomery hadn't signed with Riverside yet. That would come later in 1959. Up until this point, Montgomery was recording for Pacific Jazz with his brothers, Buddy and Monk. [Photo of Wes Montgomery, above, in 1959 by Duncan Schiedt]

In this Indianapolis setting, Montgomery was relaxed and at home. His playing is rich, swinging and engaging—largely in response to the gloriously tasteful playing of Eddie Higgins (above), who had a lush, spirited and enormously confident sound. Thanks to George, the recording's fidelity is terrific—up close, clear and warm. Best of all, it feels as if you're sitting at the foot of the stage. Imagine being able to go out at night to hear music like this. Amazing.

JazzWax tracks: You'll find Wes Montgomery: One Night in Indy (Resonance) here. Other Montgomery releases on Resonance include Echoes of Indiana Ave. hereand In the Beginning here.

JazzWax clip: Here's Give Me the Simple Life, which has the groovy feel of Gone with the Wind from Montgomery's Incredible Jazz Guitar for Riverside recorded in January 1960. On Give Me the Simple Life, dig the feel going on between Montgomery and Eddie!...

Give Me the Simple Life

Here's a video for the album...

Used with permission by Marc Myers

Wes Montgomery: So Much Guitar!

Reprinted from http://jazzwax.com

Wes Montgomery recorded So Much Guitar! for Riverside Records on August 4, 1961. For years, the album has been largely overlooked—eclipsed by The Incredible jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery, which was recorded a year and a half earlier in January 1960. What makes So Much Guitar! exceptional is its taut quality and Montgomery's daredevil risk-taking with 24-year-old bassist Ron Carter. [Photo of Wes Montgomery above by Chuck Stewart]

For reasons that likely have to do more with trial-and-error test marketing with a new artist and brand-building, producer Orrin Keepnews somehow didn't see the immediate virtues of placing Montgomery in a quartet. Instead, Montgomery between 1960 and 1961 appeared on albums with Harold Land, Cannonball Adderley, James Clay and the Montgomery Brothers. Not until So Much Guitar! did Orrin repeat the earlier magic.

Joining Montgomery on So Much Guitar! was Hank Jones (p), Ron Carter (b) and Lex Humphries (d), with Ray Barretto (cga) on several tracks. What's particularly special about the recording is how Montgomery and Ron Carter feed off each other. [Photo of Wes Montgomery above by Lee Tanner]

Ron [pictured above] is the session's sole survivor, and I interviewed him at length for my liner notes to the newly remastered and re-issued CD. Here's a section from my notes:

"At the start of the August session, Carter recalls being taken aback. 'Everyone had heard about Wes’s reputation, and when I walked into the studio and saw Hank, Lex and Ray, I was surprised I had been called instead of Sam [Jones], Paul [Chambers], Milt [Hinton], George [Duvivier} or Doug [Watkins]. We were in New York, and Orrin [pictured above] had access to any bass player he wanted.'


"But Carter’s awe soon turned to shock. 'After I set up near Wes, I realized there was no sheet music. Wes sensed my concern and turned—with that big Gibson on his lap—and said: ‘It’s just music—it’s not hard, man. Me and you got it.' That’s when I knew it was a trap. Wes meant that he and I were going to feed off each other while the rest of the guys backed us up.” [Photo above of Ron Carter by Takehiko Tokiwa]

Carter caught on fast. “On this date, I had to think of my bass in a higher range—so Wes could hear me. Normally, the bass is in charge of the band’s time. But here, I had two roles—to keep time and to influence what Wes played. It wasn’t about me and Wes going at it but what I could play to help this guy get someplace.” [Photo above of Ron Carter by Bill Douthart]

Among the most startling tracks on the album is Montgomery's swinging interpretation of Repetition. If you didn't know the name of the song in advance, odds are you never would have guessed that Montgomery was playing the chord changes to the Neal Hefti song. That's how powerful Montgomery was as an impromptu melodist, crafting an entirely new song based on the chord changes to an existing one.

With the reissue of So Much Guitar! in remastered form, we now can compare it studiously to Incredible Jazz Guitar. In just a year and a half, Montgomery's confidence grew along with his vision and imagination.

JazzWax tracks: You'll find the newly issued So Much Guitar! (Riverside) here. In addition, Concord has reissued Bill Evans' How My Heart Sings!, Cannonball Adderley's Things Are Getting Better, Thelonious Monk and Gerry Mulligan's Mulligan Meets Monk and Chet Baker Plays the Best of Lerner and Loewe.

JazzWax clip: Here's Wes Montgomery playing Neal Hefti's Repetition...

Repetition

- See more at: http://www.jazzwax.com/2013/07/wes-montgomery-so-much-guitar.html#sthash.AVerc6R7.dpuf

Used with permission by Marc Myers